Jesus Or Paris Hilton

Alexandra Pelosi, whose mother, Nancy, is speaker of the House, ran into a wall known as reality on her way to filming the world of evangelical Christians.

Her tour guide for “Friends of God” was none other than Ted Haggard. He was president of the National Association of Evangelicals when she shot the movie. After Haggard was flamboyantly disgraced for not practicing what he preached, Pelosi told the New York Times that she was saddened. “We had to take some stuff out,” she said.

Here’s the paragraph that glows in the dark: ” ‘I believe in the culture war,’ said Ms. Pelosi. ‘And you know what? If I have to take a side in the culture war, I’ll take their side,’ meaning the Christian conservatives. ‘Because if you give me the choice of Paris Hilton or Jesus, I’ll take Jesus.’ “

Admirably reported and written by Felicia R. Lee, this story is a prime example of what’s fast becoming old journalism. Its virtues include restraint. It trusts that readers can make up their own minds about Pelosi’s reasoning.

Online journalism isn’t afraid to inject some personality, to react to the astonishing instead of treating it as if it were routine.

Pelosi believes in the culture war. Don’t we all. It exists. No argument, but her remarkable view of that war proves that she has spent too much time with Haggard and not enough with her mom.

Our choices are between Paris Hilton and Jesus? Let’s see. That means Hilton is a stand in for secular humanists, and Jesus is poster boy for the far right.

I object on Jesus’ behalf. How about Jesus vs. Haggard? Much closer to reality, the Jewish non-stone thrower vs. the projectile vomiting blamer. This is a political, not a religious difference, between those who need goats to scape and those who’d just as soon let the goat live.

I’m also fascinated that this young and arrogant filmmaker tried to revise her movie to fit the fact of Haggard’s disgrace. That’s a cover-up, not a documentary. Note to Pelosi: Study journalism, study Jesus and pay attention to mom. She knows more than you do.